Skip to main content

What? Why?


fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
                Have you ever considered what was going through Jesus’ mind on the way to Jerusalem? During the walk to Golgotha? I know that the pain, and the anticipation of the pain must have been beyond explanation. From the research I’ve read, the word excruciating comes from the practice of crucifixion. But somehow, Jesus took both those journeys.  I’m told child-birth is also painful, but women face it willingly. Soldiers go off to fight in strange lands, risking life, limb, and sanity in what amounts to a hell. 
                In Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, he contends that when one knows one’s why one can endure any how. Given that he survived a German concentration camp in World War II, I think his claim should be given at least a little consideration. So, how did Jesus go to Jerusalem, get Himself arrested, beaten, and crucified? Yes, He was and is God, but He was also fully human, and the pain didn’t disappear. 
                What today’s passage tells us is that He not only had a why. He had a big why. Just on the other side of the crucifixion, joy was waiting for Him. On the other side of the crucifixion was the seat at the right hand of the throne of God. And, while Scripture doesn’t say so, I believe that you and I were on the other side of the crucifixion. Put another way, the crucifixion was the means by which we could be on the other side of the crucifixion.
                As we look at our lives, with the pain that sometimes seems to fill it, it can be hard to think about the why. What our society teaches us is that pain is bad and must be prevented or fixed. But what if the pain that life brings us is a necessary component? What if it is the only way to gain the joy set before us? Several years ago, I learned that if you help a butterfly escape from its cocoon, you will likely kill the butterfly because it Is the struggle to escape that builds strength in the wings so it can fly. What harm are we doing to one another by trying to take away their pain?
                So, of course, now the question must be asked: What Is your why? What is my why? For what are we willing to face the pain we face in life? For what will we keep going when doing so gets hard?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more